RiverHawks Stun UCO, Tie for LSC North Lead
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- Northeastern State battled its way into a first place tie in the Lone Star Conference North Division standings with a stunning 81-74 victory over No.25-ranked Central Oklahoma Saturday at Jack Dobbins Field House, snapping the Bronchos 16-game winning streak.
The victory secured the RiverHawks at least a No. 2 seeding in the Lone Star Conference Tournament to be held in Bartlesville beginning March 3. NSU was No. 8 in the South Central rankings entering the UCO game. The Bronchos were No. 4 in the regional poll.
In the last meeting between the two clubs the Bronchos dominated the RiverHawks, but that wasn't the case this time around.
"We played our defense differently, we focused on getting to the perimeter shooters this time and keeping them away from the basket," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson. "We didn't want them to have any open looks on the perimeter and I thought we did a good job of that. I think we were just more alert this time around.
"The biggest thing is that we were just more focused and ready to play. And, down the stretch we showed a lot of backbone making big free throws. We kept the pressure on them," said Gipson.
Gipson said it felt good to be tied for the lead, but added "This season is not over. We need to enjoy the weekend, but we need to really get focused for the week ahead."
The RiverHawks behind Dominique Gaines 26 points and Jason Jones' ninth double-double of the season, 23 points and 13 rebounds improved to 18-7 and 9-1 in the LSC North. The RiverHawks also received double-digit scoring from Antoine Branch and Marlon Burnett with 12 and 10 points each.
"We came in here ready to play," said Gaines. "Coach told us to leave it all out on the court. He believed in us and we believed in him. We pulled it out.
"The last time we played we were on a 7-game winning streak and we thought we had it made. They put us back down to where we needed to be. This time we knew were we stood," said Gaines.
Jones was all smiles after the victory on NSU Athletics Hall of Fame Day and Pack the House Pink Day. "This feels good, "said Jones. " This is what we were working for all week. We owed it to ourselves. We had to go and get that win and we did.
"This time it was determination and preparation. We just had the will to come in and go get it (win)," said Jones.
"We have put ourselves in a great position by beating UCO but we definitely can't let up now. We still have two important games left."
Northeastern State won the game at the free throw line as they drained 23-of-31 attempts, while the Bronchos, now 20-5 and 9-1, was just 7-of 13 at the stripe. UCO's scoring was led by Dauntae Williams with 29 points. Eric Cazenave and Chris Rhymes scored 16 and 15 points respectively.
Both clubs played at a high tempo pace with the game tied six times and had 10 lead changes before the RiverHawks took the lead for good 56-55 on a Burnett jumper inside the paint with 7:21 remaining. Northeastern State began stretching its lead to as much as nine points 68-59 at the 3:29 mark when Branch drained a 3-point shot.
However, the Bronchos came back cutting the RiverHawks lead to three points 75-72 on a Williams 3-pointer with 42 seconds remaining. It then became a free throw game with the RiverHawks going to the line six times, draining 10-of-12 attempts.
The Bronchos managed only two points in the final 42 seconds of play, a layup by Williams as the Bronchos came no closer than three points 77-74 with 32 seconds remaining.
The RiverHawks shot 42 percent for the game (24-of-57) including 10-of 31 from behind the arc, while UCO was 29-of-67 for 43 percent and just 9-of-27 on 3-point attempts. Northeastern State out-rebounded the Bronchos 42-39.
